NYC Street Vendors Struggle under Limitations 【2】

The quality of life campaign has resulted in 40,000 tickets on average written to street vendors each year for offenses, according to Street Vendor Project. Shapiro said he represents thousands of vendors in court over the year, and hundreds of them were Chinese.

“I can imagine that there’s a vendor getting a ticket everyday somewhere in the city,” he said.

Some regulations that vendors must follow include parking a cart no more than 18 inches from the curb or more than 20 feet from a store entrance. They must carry their licenses around the necks all the time when they are doing business. A vendor was given a ticket for not putting it around his neck while he was just setting up his cart. Besides, all vendors must sell on streets that are not restricted and at certain regulated time. Yet countless streets in NYC are prohibited.

“Some of the rules are reasonable, but many are not. Like there’s no reason why there should be hundreds of streets closed for vendors. There’s no reason why you have to be right at the curb or very close to the curb. It is very dangerous because you could be hit by a car,” Shapiro said.

The biggest problem is that vendors could get a fine that is up to US$1,000. “That’s a lot of money for anyone, let alone a street vendor who usually does not make a lot of money. They usually were unable to pay these tickets.”

Vendors with tickets will need to appear in the Environmental Control Board (ECB), a type of court called an administrative tribunal hears cases in which the city has charged a person with violating City laws that protect health, safety, and a clean environment. If the vendors won, their tickets would get dismissed. If they lost, they will have to pay a fine. Most of the fines range from US$50 to US$1,000, based on how many prior tickets the vendor has had in the past two years. Shapiro has seen many cases in which vendors had to pay five- to six-thousand dollars.

If they cannot afford to pay, they will not be able to renew their license, meaning that they will be out of business.